


Thanks for Being Around

by Glitteredwithstars



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Gina's mean?, Heartbreak, High School, Ice cream shoppes, Not with Ricky though :), Romance, old diners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22730866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitteredwithstars/pseuds/Glitteredwithstars
Summary: Ricky's alone, but he get's a new car out of it. Gina's alone, and she get's a new friend out of it, maybe. The thing is they kinda don't like eachother, expect they kinda do, and things sorta get messy.
Relationships: Big Red/ Ashlynn Caswell, Nini Salazar-Roberts/ Harry Love, Ricky Bowen/ Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen/ Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello All! Thank you for reading this, I would love a little comment telling me what you think, these are truly my motivation. I'm planning on making this a three part fic, but who knows. Anyways kudos and feedback is always appreciated, see you next part:)

“Yeah…Yes. I’ll call you in the morning. You too.”, he hangs up the phone, and places it onto the dock with a click. His mother only called the house phone when she knew his dad wasn’t home, Ricky never really figured out why; just knew he hated it because it kept him tied in the same spot, her shrill voice nagging in his ear for five minutes straight.

They had started this routine ever since his dad had taken a job a half an hour away in the next town over.

“I don’t know…”, his dad had trailed off. They were sitting at the kitchen counter, after his dad had told him the news about his ‘awesome job offer’.  
“Really, Dad, its okay”. Ricky assures, he grabs the bag of chips laying in front of him opens it, and pops one his mouth. “I’m happy for you, really.”, he emphasizes the really around a mouth full of chips and rolls his eyes. 

This conversation wasn’t going to end until he made it very clear that he was fine with his Dad being gone five days of the week, with weekends spent at home.

Because he was, really.

“I think it’ll be great, you know, to get out of the house. And don’t worry about me, I’m practically an adult, I can totally take care of myself.”  
To make his point clear, he grabs one of the steak knifes out of the butcher block and points it towards his dad. “I’ll keep one of these babies under my pillow every night, anyone try to break in, they’re dead.”

And apparently this all it takes for his dad to relieve his anxieties about taking the job, because he’s laughing and texting his boss right away that he’ll take the position.  
That night he packs his suitcase and the next morning he’s out the door, practically leaving tire marks in the driveway as he leaves. 

Ricky can’t be mad at him really, because this was the first time in months that his dad had been excited about anything. He spent most of his days holed up in the house and had a stench that clung to his clothes and everything he touched, lingering in the air.

At least the house smelt better.

They’re into the month of this arrangement, and Ricky still hasn’t found himself used to it. The house had this ominous atmosphere about it, and felt so big that Ricky could curl up and it would swallow him whole. 

And the phone calls from his mother only made him feel more lonely; because even though his dad was 100 miles away ,Chicago had him beat by a 1000 miles, and that was a lot of space to fill this void inside of him.

It’s a story he’s heard billion times. Boy and Girl get married, have kid, it rips them apart, and then suddenly they don’t love one another anymore. Someone had to leave first, it just happened to be his mom. 

He thinks that’s where it stemmed from, that emptiness. 

After the never-ending conversation with his mother, he finds himself outside, sitting on the steps that lead down to his pool. He’s only wearing boxers and has a fleece blanket wrapped around his frail body. It’s the middle of January and the air has this omnipresent coolness about it, the kind that seeps into your bones and stays there for hours. But, he’s kind of picked up this bad habit and it requires the outside.

He stubs his cigarette out, and blows out the last of the nicotine from his nose. And, okay, he knows it’s 2021 and no one really smokes anymore, but it helps with his anxiety.  
Or some shit like that.

He stares straight ahead, and there’s nothing but darkness. It leaves this fear in the back of his throat, but really he thinks he’s just afraid of himself. Because being afraid of the darkness was for children, and he clearly wasn’t one anymore.

The steps creak as he makes his way back up to his house, and he makes sure to latch the sliding door behind him. Maybe it was funny to joke about killers, but it was still a very real fear that crept into his mind late at night.

Ricky doesn’t bother to turn out the lights as he makes his way up to his room.

By the time he’s out of the shower it’s 1 a.m. and he has a goodnight text from his father.  
A month ago it would have been from Nini, but she had ended their relationship. It was at a party thrown by Ashlynn to celebrate the end of exams.  
“I’m sorry.”, she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. She only cried when she was drunk, it was her thing. 

Ricky had known where this conversation was going the second she had pulled him into the bathroom, eyes all shifty. He really had known what was going to happen for the past month because he could feel a shift in their relationship, but he was just too afraid to do it first. 

That doesn’t mean it hurt any less, because this one just really had a way of running him over.

“I just feel like you’re not the same person anymore, and I’ve tried to just get a single word out of you. But it’s like pulling out teeth, unbearable and not really worth the pain.” She’s crying even more and there’s mascara running down her face, streaking her face with black. That’s all he really feels is black, dark and sad, and done.  
After he doesn’t say anything her face twists into a scowl, like disgust. “Wow, Ricky.” She scoffs, before she’s leaving the bathroom and a shut door in his face.

Ricky doesn’t think of that though, doesn’t replay it in his head every time he’s goes to bed. Like a mantra shouting in the silence of his room, “Unbearable, not worth it”, because that was all it really felt like lately, “like pulling out teeth”.  
He replies to his dad with a “Night”, and falls back into his bed, falling asleep.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
It’s morning, and he really hasn’t gotten any sleep, like for the past months his dad has been gone. He doesn’t sleep anymore, just lays there with his phone as a distraction.  
Not sleeping has it’s perks though because he doesn’t wake up with that familiar grogginess anymore, and rolls out of bed as soon as the sun peeks it way from the horizon. 

Breakfast consist of stale, three week old cereal and then he’s out the door on the way to school.

As a sorry for not being around, his father had gifted him a car before leaving, it was really the only good thing to come out of the whole situation. Because having your own car as a highschooler was it’s own sense of empowerment.

Every morning he rode with the windows rolled down, letting the air whip through his car and ruffle his hair. 

It reminded him life wasn’t just this dark over-hang, like a rock he couldn’t get out from under, that there were things that made him truly happy.

He pulls into a parking space with a screeching halt and five minutes before the bell rings. As he gets out of his car he spots Nini, she’s sitting on the hood of a silver jeep, Harry’s to be exact. They’re talking about something he couldn’t hear, but it must be funny because he hears her laugh from across the parking lot, and it makes his heart ache.

He always loved her laugh.

Harry’s standing in front of her and working his way into her space, all close, like it’s just theirs. Ricky turns away before his mind can carry too far away, before he remembers that they used to be like that.

He runs into something solid, and warm, he realizes it’s a person. The person falls to the ground with a loud crunch, butt digging into the gravel.  
She whips her head around finishes her scowl with a “Nice one, Bowen. Would it kill you to, I don’t know, learn how to walk?”

It’s Gina.  
Of course.

She ignores the hand he had placed in front of her and awkwardly stands up. Almost falling three times in the process; Ricky tries not to laugh as he watches her.  
Pride was a powerful thing. 

“Sorry about that.” He says as he clears his throat. Talking with her was always stilted and uncomfortable, he never really knew what to say.

It was like ever since she had moved to town, they were undeclared enemies. It was just how they interactions had always been.  
She said something, he didn’t like it. He said something, she didn’t like it. It was like they were always toeing around something that was bubbling just underneath the surface.  
Instead of accepting his genuine and heartfelt apology, she rolls her eyes, puts her airpods in and walks into the school.  
“Nice talking to you”, he smiles at her, rolls his eyes right back and heads to his first class. 

Class.

Grades. 

School.

These had all culminated together to become just another laundry list of issues that had arisen in his life. Ricky had never really been one of those perfect straight A students, usually his report cards were scattered with C’s, and that was totally fine with him.

Ever since senior year started those C’s had turned into D’s and suddenly he was failing almost every class. 

He’s walking to his third period when he runs into Big Red, he’s all smiles and “Hey man!”, as he pulls him into a one of those bro hugs. 

“Hey, haven’t seen you since last week.”

Ever since he and Ashlynn had gotten together, bro time was cut down and Ricky only saw Red in passing, or occasionally on the weekends. It was fine with Ricky, really, because he had stuff going on too. Like, he got a new job at Scoops, the one ice cream shoppe that had been in the neighborhood for centuries. Or maybe it’s decades. He doesn’t really know.

But it’s the first place that accepted him and he really needed to start saving for his car payment, and gas, or whatever else he wanted to buy. He was starting after school actually and he was pretty pumped about it.

“Yeah, sorry about that. You know how the ladies can be.”, he says wrapping an arm around him as they continue down the aisle.

“No worries. I’m happy for you.” Ricky gives him a smile to punctuate his sentence.

It works because Red’s smiling right back and shaking his head.

“Thanks, it’s crazy I never really thought it would happen.”

Ricky rolls his eyes, says “Come on man, you’re a huge catch.” ,and pats him on the back.

“Heard about Nini and Harry, sorry that sucks.”

Ricky stops in his tracks, feels like he had just been struck up the side of the head. And, okay, maybe he had been telling himself little lies, letting innocence cloud his mind. 

He knew. Of course he knew.  
It didn’t hurt any less.

“Uh, yeah… He trails off, doesn’t really know what to say. He doesn’t really want to talk about it, it was all still too fresh. 

Big Red’s cheeks flush and he starts to scratch the back of his head. Says sorry, that he thought you knew.  
Ricky tells him not to worry about it ,that he’s been living under a rock these days and he’s glad he heard It from his best friend.

Before the conversation can go on they reach Red’s class, and he’s gone with a wave goodbye.

That’s how most of their conversations would go, fast and over when he didn’t want them to be. He’s about to reach the stairs when he’s stops and pivots in the opposite direction. Decides It honestly wasn’t really worth it, and heads towards the parking lot.

God he needed to get out of this monotonous school with it’s monotonous people and their monotonous bullshit.  
He makes it out the doors, and the cold air hits him like a warm blanket. Its crisp and sets his lungs on fire.  
That’s when he spots someone else out here, also trying to make their great escape.

It’s Gina. 

Of course she would ditch too.

She’s sitting on the curb that leads into the senior parking lot, toeing at the gravel with the sole of her boot. He’s not really sure what’s she’s doing, she’s not even trying to leave, just sitting there like she’s waiting for something.

He makes his way towards his car, hoping to avoid a conversation.

He’s opening his car door, when he hears her come up behind him, she says “Hey, where are you going? Schools not even half way over, you know there’s still so much knowledge to pack into to that little brain of yours.”

He turns around, shoots her a smile.

“Yeah… after two periods, I decided enough was enough. That it wasn’t really my scene.”

“Not really your scene? I’m not sure that’s something you can decide.” She’s slowly stepping her way closer, he feels like he’s fallen into some sort of Lion’s den. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” He shoots back. “So, what is your reason?”

She laughs, shrugs her shoulders and averts her gaze to something off in the distance. The winds picked up and it’s running its way through her curls, whipping them around her face. 

She turns back to him says, “I guess the same thing.”

This is the longest conversation they’ve had he realizes, without one of them at each other’s throat. Sure, there’s tension and undertones of dislike, but maybe that’s just how it was. 

“Is there something you wanted?” 

She looks at him, like she’s trying to make a decision, like there’s choices to weigh. He doesn’t know what they are but he wants to find out.  
“I’m kinda hungry”, she says. Leaves it that.

He looks at her puzzled, waiting for her to elaborate.

She huffs rolls her eyes “I don’t have a car, and I don’t know maybe you could take me, dipshit?”

Ricky scoffs at that. 

“Of course, how could I say no to such polite offer.” He rolls his eyes and starts to get into his car, wanting this conversation to end.

There’s a firm grasp on his shoulder before he can fully submerge into his vehicle, he turns around looks at her.

“Please”, her voice almost sounds pleading, like it was something she needed. He didn’t know why, but he sighs and concedes.

“Fine, just make sure you don’t scratch or tear anything, this baby’s new. She rolls her eyes and huffs something that almost sounds like a laugh, making her way to the other side of the car. 

“How is your car colder than outside?”, she questions. “I can practically feel myself freezing to death. Her breath can be seen as she speaks, making puffs of clouds everytime she closes and opens her mouth. It reminds him of nicotine and he finds himself itching for a cigarette. 

He doesn’t though, decides against the judgment that would surely follow him lighting up in his car. Especially from Gina.

“It’ll warm up in a second, just wait a sec”, he suddenly finds himself regretting agreeing to this. He’s a good guy, he reminds himself as he’s pulling out of the school heading to his destination.

They’re five minutes in before Gina has the sense to question where he’s going. 

She turns down the radio and turns to him. “Okay I’m starting to think you’re kidnapping me Bowen.” She states, “Seriously, where are you taking me?”, the Wendy’s down the street would have sufficed.”

Disgusting, of course she would like Wendy’s.

“You’ve been here, what? A year, it’s time you eat like a local. Also, Wendy’s is utter trash.”, he finishes to really nail home the point. 

It’s Gina’s turn to look at him in disgust, says “Okay, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that. Their frosties totally kill, especially with French fries.”

‘The best”, she finishes

“Are you a five year old boy?” 

“Are you always a dick?”

“Takes one to know one.”

Maybe he was the five year old. She sticks her tongue out in response and turns the volume back up and leans her head against the window.

Two minutes later and they’re pulling into the parking lot of Leone’s Diner, his favorite. It’s mostly empty, but that’s how it was nowadays, chain restaurants pulling the bulk of customers away. It’s painted a bright teal with red accents and was hard to miss, a big neon sign planted at the top, that read Leone’s.

“What is this shithole?” Gina questions, squinting her eyes at the building. Ricky tries to ignore the comment and gets out of the car. 

‘Just get out. You’re gonna love it. You’ll see.”, she sighs and follows him into the restaurant, boots crunching against the broken pavement. 

The inside’s definitely seen it’s better days. There’s cracks along the walls and the cloth from the booth is curling up in rips, the tile has this permanent yellow tint to it and it smells like grease. It might just be his favorite place in the world. Despite it’s flaws, the food was killer. 

“Go pick a booth, I’ll grab us menus.” He tells her as they make their separate ways. Gina picks the booth in the far corner of the diner, where two windows meet and there’s almost a glow cast on the green leather seats.

It’s the one he always sat at, it was the warmest spot in the building and you could see the road from it.

“Nice choice”, he says handing her a menu.

“So what do you recommend?” she says it scanning the menu, her teeth in between her lips. Like it was a test she needed to pass.

Definitely the cheeseburger, and they have this pecan pie, that’s-ohmygosh- killer.” He tells her.

She nods and shuts the menu, says nah I’ll go with the grilled turkey and cheese. “Do you have to disagree with every thing I say?”

“Maybe.”

She’s smiling over the brim of her menu, “pecan pie, though, that sounds tempting…”

He smiles back, “We can share.”

The waitress makes her way over to their booth and takes their orders, ends with a I’ll get that right out honey and walks her way behind the kitchen doors.  
As they wait for their food they bicker more, ranging from shows to movies and who Bella was really meant to be with. He was totally team Jacob while she was team Edward.  
Ten minutes later and their foods is being served, there’s steam rising from the dishes and Ricky mouth is watering. The burger’s juicy and his fries are crisp to perfection, seasoning on point.

Gina takes her first bite, and she’s throwing her head back with a sigh.

Ricky flushes, feels like he’s about to witness a When Harry Met Sally moment. Gina laughs, a smirk hanging from her lips and swallows the food.

“Wow, this is actually pretty good. Maybe even better than Wendy’s.”

“These fries are crisp to perfection, seasoning on point.”

Ricky replies over a smile, “Right?”

They finish their meals and finally work their way to the pecan pie. It’s baked fresh and the whipped cream is dripping off the sides, running in a puddle all the way to his stomach.  
The first bite she takes, Gina closes her eyes, says it helps her really savor the flavor, something about heightening senses. 

After she swallows her eyes flutter open, Ricky is practically bouncing with anticipation, waiting for her review.

“And?”, he asks.

She smiles says, “Holy fuck, that’s amazing”, fills her fork with more. They pies gone in a matter of seconds and all that’s left to show for it, is dirty forks and whipped cream residue.

By the time they finish it’s almost 1:00 and school will be out in an hour. His shift starts at 2:30, and he needs to be home so he can shower and change before then, first impressions were key. 

He offers to pay, but Gina insists that she pay for her own, including the pie. 

“I can pay for myself, plus I owe you gas money.” She says taking out a twenty and leaving it on the table. He feels special, like the Gina Porter had just taken him out on a date.  
He says it to her and almost gets a slap to the head.

“Just take me home, I’ll tell you where to go.”

She lives just a little down the road, on live creek road. The houses are all lined up rows and rows of quaint homes. He can’t imagine more than three people living in the house, she’s probably an only child. Makes sense Ricky thinks, they always tended to be more dominant than those with siblings, hell he was one.

“Your mom home?”, he asks.

“Hell no, I would be dead if she caught me playing hooky, she works long hours. Won’t be home until night.”

Ricky nods without a response, drums his hands on the dashboard. He doesn’t really know how to say goodbye, or thanks, or if he should. 

She goes to open the passenger door, stops, turns to look at him. 

“Thanks.” And then she’s halfway across the yard, door shutting with a click.

He’s not really sure what just happened, just knows that it was half-way bearable. He could almost call it enjoyable, Gina really wasn’t half bad when she wasn’t all closed off and had food in her belly. 

He smiles to himself and makes his way home.

Turns up the music and lets the windows down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I actually just finished edfiting it and couldn't wait to post it! Please share with me your thoughts, that is always appreciated. Also I added spike into this fic, I just think Ricky really needed a friend... anyways third part should be coming soon, hopefully... see all yall later.

It’s Friday, exactly three days since his and Gina’s little escapade and Ricky’s not sure if he’s become invisible, because she hasn’t even acknowledged him since he dropped her off, watching legs run their way up steps. 

IT’S FINE.

Ricky hadn’t really expected them to become friends, or anything crazy like that. Except maybe he had, because he thought they had gotten along well and she even liked pecan pie, which, no one he knew but himself did, and he liked having someone to share it with.

He’s standing in the hallway he hasn’t entered since last year, it’s where most of the junior classes where held and feels like a crazy stalker. There was no reason for him to be on this side of the school, yet here he was, waiting.

TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FINE.

The end of fourth is coming to an end and he’s waiting for the bell to ring. Ricky’s not completely crazy, because he knows there won’t be a conversation exchanged, all he’s really hoping for is a nod of the head, or a simple wave.

Like, hey, I know this guy, we hang out, we’re friends. He wasn’t really sure what they were, if only Gina would just even LOOK at him, he could just know. And the not is really killing him.

The thrum of the bell jolts him out of his thoughts, and he scans the rush of students for one angry, tall, dark headed girl. HE finds her within seconds, because lately it seems like she just has some sort of magnet, drawing him towards her.

She’s dressed from head to toe in black, and has her signature head phones in, like she’s blocking out the rest of the world, like it’s something she tries to avoid. 

Ricky got that, that was understandable. He just wished Gina wouldn’t block out him. Maybe he’s worked out this crazy scenario in his mind, where them two were friends; like a piece of pie and ride home created a bridge between two people who had previously burned it down. 

He shakes out his limbs, watching the nerves leave his body and makes his way over to where she is, hopes to non chalantly pass by

He watches her pass by like a rush of black, not even acknowledging his presence, or that it was weird that he would even be in on this side of the school. 

Ricky turns around, hopes to catch up to her and confront Gina about what the fuck was her problem- probably not in those exact words, but it was really starting to piss him off. Ricky doesn’t get the chance though, because the hallways too crowded and she’s already turning the corner.

Before he can even regain his peace of mind, someone’s bumping into him, sending Ricky into the hard tile of the school floors. He realizes that person happens to be Nini, frail, tiny, Nini, and he wonders when he started to become such a weak little bitch.

Her eyes go wide and doe like, and she’s frantically extending out her hand. 

“Jesus, Ricky, I didn’t even see you. You okay?”, before he can reply there’s someone coming up behind her, wrapping their strong and muscular arms around her waist, finishing with a kiss on the cheek. It’s Harry, Harry Love to be exact and Ricky wishes he was anywhere else but here, on the floor, watching his ex-girlfriend with some dumb dick.

He finally registers there’s someone practically lying below him, and his eyes fall to himself.

“Hey man, what are you doing on the floor, kinda dirty.” He finishes with a smile, all coy, like he didn’t know what he was doing.

Nini brushes him off, rolls her eyes, says “You really think he’s just sitting there. I accidentally knocked him down idiot.”

This has Harry laughing, hands covering mouth and his dimples sticking out on cheeks. If there was a punch line Ricky must have missed it, he ignores Nini’s hand and hoists himself off the ground. 

“Yeah, I gotta get to class.” He turns around and starts to walk away as fast as he can, before he can make it too far Nini’s calling after him and is grabbing his arm. 

“Hey, sorry about that.” She’s looking around, not really meeting his eyes, and her cheeks are flushed.

“About what?”

“You know, pushing you down, didn’t realize I was so strong.” There’s a small laugh that follows, and 0Ricky just really wants to know what she’s getting at.

She clears her throat.

“Um, I was hoping that we could take some time, like after school one day or something. I’m really worried about you.” She’s finally looking at him, eyes all big and warm. And he finds himself falling right back into her, wanting to stay there and nestle up. 

So he says the dumbest thing, “Uh, yeah sure.”, he rubs the back of his neck and sticks his hands into pocket of his jacket.

She smiles back up at him says awesome, I’ll text you later. And then she’s gone.

Ricky sighs and runs his left hand over his face, letting his skin drag as his fingers move. He really wasn’t expecting that today, or ever. They way their breakup had gone, at least in his eyes, left no room for reconciliation, but Nini had been his best friend for forever, and he honestly missed having her around. 

He decides that class isn’t something that’s peaking his interest anymore, so he’s in his car as fast as he can get there and is heading home.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
Ricky’s pulling into his driveway when he spots his dad’s car, shit, he forgot. It’s the last month of the week and these were the Friday’s he would get home early. And Ricky was supposed to be at school.

His initial instinct is to push down on the gas as hard as he can and get the hell out of there before his dad can see. Before he can do so, his dad is swinging the front door open and is bounding down the steps towards his car. Ricky slowly slips down his seat, hoping to just melt into the leather.

Sadly, he doesn’t.

There’s a knock at the window, and he rolls it down. “Hey Dad!”, Ricky practically beams, a toothy grin on display.

His mouth is in a frown and his eyes read one of a sad, disappointment. Ricky was disappointed with his dad about a lot of things, but he doesn’t say that. Instead keeps up his ‘go-lucky’ persona. Hoping to get off mostly unscathed.

“Don’t.”, is all his dad says, like he was expecting for Ricky to start uttering bullshit. 

He wasn’t wrong.

His smile falls and he waits for the lecture. 

And, boy, is it an earful. They get inside and his dad is all rage and disappointment. He tells Ricky he better ‘shape up’ and he can’t believe ‘he could be so responsible’, that his grades are going to start to slip, and that isn’t good for his future. Ricky want’s to tell him his grades have always been bad, that he didn’t even want to go to college, that school sucked. Instead he sits there like an obedient child and nods his head when needed, showing remorse.

“Do I really need to quit my job, so you won’t act like an idiot?”, this almost has Ricky laughing, because yeah right. This, his job, was the only part of his life that he actually enjoyed. Maybe not the work, but being away from, this house, this town, made him happy.  
What’s even more funny, is that he says it like it’s a threat, like it’s something Ricky would hate. Like having is dad around was something to be afraid of. 

“No, dad. It was just one time. I had a bad day, okay?”, he sighs and leans back into the couch staring up at the ceiling fan. He can feel the tension from his dad leave, and he sighs too. 

“Sorry, me too.”

His dad tells him to ‘not do it again’ and that ‘he will let this slide this time around’. 

After their argument he heads up to his room for a shower, it’s the middle of the day, but it honestly sounded good in the moment. 

He turns the water the warmest it’ll go, lets the bathroom fill with steam, air that’s humid and sticks to his skin, seeping into his muscles. It’s all so relaxing that he almost falls asleep.

The showers only better, letting the hot water run down his back, releasing the tension in his body he didn’t know he had. 

After standing under the head for almost 20 minutes, he finally gets around to washing his body and his hair, makes quick work of it and gets out. 

The sweet bliss of the shower is cut when he checks his phone and sees five missed calls from his manager. Oh yeah, work. He did that now. 

He was scheduled to work right after school, and Nini and the whole interaction had thrown him off balance. God, this was only his second shift, he didn’t want to let his boss down so soon.

He quickly dries off and struggles into his work clothes. He’s out the door in ten minutes and is headed to the shoppe.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“Sorry!”, he’s tumbling through the doors, and he can feel that his shirt is backwards, but he doesn’t really care, just glad that he made it.

His hearts racing from the running, and it only quickens when he spots a certain girl standing behind the counter in the same uniform he had on.

It’s Gina.

She’s staring down at the register counting money, eyeing him from across the room. Her face barely registers a reaction, just that same cold stare she had in school earlier. Ricky can only imagine the look on his face.

Before he can say anything, Mr. Leone is coming from the back.

He’s shaking his head says, “Glad you actually made it son. Go and fix your shirt.” Ricky hears a laugh escape from Gina, barely inaudible, but it’s there, and he smiles to himself as he heads to the bathroom.

He fixes his shirt and ruffles his hands through his hair, it’s still wet and his curls look sad and soggy. So he grabs his cap and sticks it on his head, taming the mess on top. 

As he exits the bathroom, Gina is standing by the lockers, taking her bag out and finding a stick of gum. 

She turns around once she hears the door open, sticks the piece of gum in her mouth, says “Bowen, I’m training you in the front today.” It’s all cold and it has his body shivering.

He nods his head and follows her to the front. She beings by showing him how to work the cash register, which buttons do what, it’s all old and rusty, and Ricky thinks it had to have come with the place a 100 years ago. 

Ricky tries to not act puzzled, like he totally understands what she’s saying, like he knows what those buttons are for and what they do. 

She notices though. “Don’t worry you’ll get the hang of it. It’s like a thousand years old, but I think it adds charm.”

Ricky smiles at that, surprised she actually talked to him, in a way like she didn’t completely hate him. He hesitates, pondering whether or not to question her attitude lately, why she had been acting so cold after their lunch.

Before he can say anything. She’s moving on to the next task, showing him how to properly scoop the icecream, because apparently there was a way. “It’s all in the wrist she tells him, flicks her wrist right in line with his eyes. 

It forms the perfect scoop.

She then walks him through their menu items and shows him how to make them. Starts with a banana split. 

She’s putting the cherry on top when he says something. “I though I was invisible there for a while.”

She turns and looks at him, a blank slate on her face. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

Ricky tries his hardest to not react, make it seem like It doesn’t bother him either, like nothing really matters. He thinks he fails though, because Gina’s rolling her eyes and rubbing her temple with the pad of her thumb. 

“Why do you act like that? Like you’re so done with everyone and too annoyed to actually have any friendships.”, he says it before he can really realize what’s spluttering out of his mouth. His cheeks burn after he says this, kind of embarrassed. He thought they were past all the hostility.

“You think that after we share a piece of pie, it suddenly makes us the best of friends? We’ve been at each other’s throats ever since I got here, why does it all the sudden have to be different.”

She drizzles the chocolate sauce ontop of the ice cream and licks the chocolate that left it’s way on her pinkie. Gina’s trying really hard not to look at him and he wishes she would. 

Before he can say anything in reply, the bell is dinging and there is a slew of middle schooler piling into the small shoppe. She pushes past him and greets the kids with a smile, he wishes she would smile at him like that. 

He heads into the back to do some inventory, trying to keep himself busy. He hates it, standing in the freezer is cold and he think his limbs might fall off, but its better than being around Gina though.

The rocky roads half- way done, and he honestly can’t stand it anymore. His bones ache and his limbs are starting to become stiff. He checks off the last tub and steps out of the freezer. 

He isn’t really sure how much time has passed, but the glow of the sun left the shoppe and he can hear Gina shutting down the appliances. Mr. Leone had left earlier gave him the keys to lock the doors before they left. 

It’s only Gina and himself and the tension makes the air feel thick, making it harder to catch his breathe.

She comes to the back, takes off her apron and stuffs it into her locker, its covered in whipped cream and peanut butter and he thinks she should probably take it home to be washed. 

“Hey, I need to head out early, can you finish the closing duties?”, she asks with her back turned tying her hair in a loose bun, her curls falling out. 

“Yeah, no problem. I closed with Leone on Tuesday. I’m practically a pro.” He laughs, hoping to ease the off vibe that currently exists. 

She nods and leaves out the back door, not bothering to tell him goodbye.

Ricky sighs and slams his head against the locker, feels like he really messed it up. Thought he had a friend, then realizes he never really did. 

He cleans the bathrooms and the break room, counts the money, and turns off the lights before he heads home. Making sure to lock the door behind him.

His cars cold and he blasts the heater as soon as he can, lights a cigarette before pulling out of the parking lot. The cigarette burns a fire in his throat and helps warm him up. That familiar tickle that hits the back of his throat as the nicotine hits helps relax him and he finds comfort in the ritual of it all.

It’s bad, he knows it. Just doesn’t honestly care.

He finds himself driving past his home before it really even registers, and suddenly there’s Nini’s house coming into view. He doesn’t really know why or how he got here, just knows that he should leave.

He doesn’t.

Ricky just concedes that he’s become some crazy stalker and decides to lean into the new identity.

He’s across the street smoking another cigarette when he notices the silver jeep in her drive way, It makes his stomach clench. Harry was probably in there playing boyfriend of the year, kissing up to Nini’s parents as they sit over dinner. 

He thinks about how that used to his role, and now he’s just some charity case for Nini to take care of, to fix, even though she was the one that broke him, at least in some parts. 

Ricky doesn’t want to talk to her, not really. Or maybe he does, because he’s sitting outside her house on a freezing January night missing, aching to have her near. 

The cold is biting at him, and has his nose turning red, so he stubs out his cigarette and gets back into the warm blanket that is his car. He doesn’t leave though, leans his seat back and turns the music up. Home isn’t really the place he wants to be. Even though he misses his dad when he’s gone, being alone has become a comfort and he wants it that way.  
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There’s a loud bang, and he shoots up banging his head on the top of his car in the process. Ricky notices it’s morning time, and the sun is shining in his eyes, leaving him blind for a few seconds. It takes Ricky a moment to realize where he is, and then his neck is burning with embarrassment. 

Nini’s looking into his car, signaling for him to roll the window down. Except he can’t because the battery is dead, like an idiot he fell asleep.

He instead opens the door and steps out, giving Nini a slight smile. She’s wrapped in a purple robe and her bunny slippers are snug on her feet. 

“What are you doing Ricky? You look terrible, and is that cigarette smoke.”, she’s coughing and waving her hand in front of her face, a little dramatic he thinks. Ricky doesn’t say anything, just sits on the hood of his car and runs his hands through his curls.

“Why are you here?”

Ricky laughs says “Honestly, I don’t really know. I guess I missed you.” The car dips as she sits next to him, placing a hand on his thigh.

“You worry me, you know that? You’re always skipping class, and when I do see you, you’re always in a catatonic state, and you’re so skinny now. Do you even eat?”

Ricky sighs, says, “You gave up you’re position as the worried girl friend when you decided to break up with me.” He twitches his jaw and looks forward, watching her neighbors roll their garbage to the front of their yard. 

Nini ignore his jab instead goes for support, like she always did. It was hard for her to be negative, that’s something he always loved about her, he thinks he hates it now. 

“I’m just trying to be your friend, I want you to be okay.”

Ricky hops of the hood of his car, says ‘I am’ and asks if she can jump his car. She agrees and pulls her car over to his.

After the second try his car starts and he thinks its a favor from God. Before he can leave she invites him in for breakfast, though he really just thinks she’s asking because it’s the polite thing.

He declines, says he’s full and leaves.

The drive home is a good time for Ricky to scold himself, falling asleep in front of your ex-girlfriend’s house? Smart move. 

He has a pounding headache and just wants to sleep off the night, and that morning’s conversation.

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He’s two hours into sleep when his dad is knocking at his door, and Ricky really wishes he could rest without someone interrupting it.

His blanket is covering his face and he peeks out from under it, sees his dad standing in the doorway. He groans and flips the other way, hoping his dad gets an understanding and leaves. It doesn’t work, because his bed dips and the covers are being ripped from his face.

“Where were you last night?”

Ricky groans and squints at his dad, “I stayed at Red’s. Sorry I forgot to call.”

There’s a sigh that escapes from his father, like he doesn’t believe it, he doesn’t say it though. Just goes, “Okay.”, and leaves like he always does.

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2 o’clock rolls around and Ricky finally gets out of bed, it’s all groggy and the world around him is hazy. It’s like life went on and forgot to take him with it.

He passes Spike on his way down the steps, gives her a kiss on the head and a quick belly rub.

Downstairs his dad is sitting in his recliner, blinds drawn and watching t.v, it’s his usual weekend activity. The only thing different is, there’s someone with him.

It’s Big Red.   
Fuck. Damnit. Jesus.

“Hey Ricky”, he’s getting up off the couch, and meeting him right as he makes his last pace down the stairs. 

It’s weird, all of this is weird. 

He wishes he had never woken up, remaining in sweet and blissful sleep. He’s here though, and reality is a bitch. “Hey…”, he ends it like a question, wondering why he’s here, and how he’s gonna explain it to his father. 

“How long have you been here? You could have texted me if you wanted to hang out.”, he’s walking over to the fridge and pulling out a sprite zero. Oh yeah, he’s healthy. 

“It’s only been a couple of hours, was watching a movie with your dad, he uh, didn’t make it.”, Ricky can hear the faint sounds of sleep coming from his dad, and see the rise and fall of his chest. 

Good. He didn’t need another lecture.

That still didn’t explain why he was here. 

Red clears his throat goes, “Nini texted me… about this morning.”, he trails off and shifts on both of his feet, something he always did when he was uncomfortable or unsure. 

Oh, so he didn’t want to hang. Cool.

Ricky tries not to roll his eyes, get upset. He can feel the heat rising from the bottom of his chest, prickling his skin. He didn’t need to be checked on, he was fine. 

“Thanks, didn’t think I needed a babysitter.”, he says it with a little more force than he intended, he checks on his dad, makes sure that he doesn’t wake up. He stirs, but then is right back asleep, amen.

“You don’t. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”, God, Ricky wished people would stop asking him.

“Yeah, I’m okay. You would know that if you were around at all anymore. But you aren’t.”, he can’t stop himself, because lately he can feel all these feelings bubbling under the surface, and his temper is getting the best of him.

“I don’t think you are.”, he says all calm, because apparently everyone but him had that capability.

“You’ve been acting weird lately, like you don’t want to be around any of your friends anymore.” Ricky laughs, cause he kind of got the feeling that they were the ones who didn’t want to be around him.

“How would you know? You’re not around anymore. So don’t tell me that I’m the one acting weird.”, he takes a drink of his sprite, sets it down on the kitchen table with a little more force than necessary. 

“Nini finding you outside of her house at 7 in the morning, that’s weird dude, there’s something going on, I’m just here to support my friend, I’m tyring to help.” He’s getting louder, and his face is flushing with anger. It makes Ricky excited, gets his blood pumping.

“Well I don’t need you or Nini’s help, actually I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m fine and I am so sick of people acting like they need someone to save.”

It goes quiet, and Red just shakes his head, scoffs, like he’s backing down. Like he doesn’t want to deal with Ricky anymore. 

“Yeah I can see that. I’ll see you later.” 

He grabs his jacket off the couch and leaves with a slam of the front door, good, Ricky thinks, He doesn’t need him.

This wakes up his dad.

He’s turning his head, eyes till hazy from sleep. “What was that about? Where’s red?”, his voice is rough and distant, like he was still half asleep.

Ricky rolls his eyes says, “Really don’t want to talk about it Dad.”

He storms back up the stairs, and closes his bedroom door, goes back to bed.

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It’s Monday morning, and he’s all rage, and anger, and storm. 

All is wonderful.

His dad had left early Sunday, said he had to get back, shorthanded or something. 

Or something. 

Ricky was glad, actually, he didn’t want his dad around. All he did was hover around him, all worried, like he cared. 

He rolls out of bed, almost stepping on his only friend. She’s sleeping and he tries not to disturb her as he makes his way to the bathroom.

The showers warm and coats his body like a fuzzy blanket. Showers, he thinks are his favorite thing, just a bit more than car rides. 

It’s probably the best part of his day, and he hates having to leave the comfort of it.

It happens though, and he’s pulling up to school, it’s boring and prison like appearance in all of its glory.

He immediately want’s to turn around, peel out of the parking lot and pretend like he didn’t have to be here. Ricky doesn’t though, gains some self-control and finds a parking space. 

Ricky immediately regrets it, because pulling up right beside him is Nini and Harry, sliver jeep towering over his tiny grey car. Jackass.

They don’t notice him though, all leaned in to one another, space something they clearly didn’t care for. He gives Nini a kiss, and Ricky turns away like he had been burned, like a slap to the face.

His car is all of the sudden too small and he quickly gets out of it, practically sprinting to the school doors. 

He didn’t want to be any where near that silver jeep and it’s devil owner. 

Maybe evil followed him, because he runs into the devil right as he passes the doors. It takes a different form this time, mysterious and female, all Gina. In lew of his hectic running and failing limbs, she’s there like a brick wall, something to run into. Something to be hurt by. 

She’s gonna kill him he thinks as he falls to the ground, second time in the span of a week, he should really learn to control himself.

There’s a thud as his ass hits tile. She’s looming over him, and he wonders how in the world she didn’t fall. Maybe she tripped him, he thinks. That’s something she would do. 

There’s no extended hand, or a sign of help, just rolling eyes and arms crossed as she watches Ricky struggle to get up.

He rubs the back of his head as he makes his way to his feet, there’s fire underneath him and it lights him from the inside outwards. 

Anger. There it is again, stirring inside of him. He doesn’t apologize, instead walks off, leaving her standing there, like she did to him on Friday night. 

The rest of school is boring and it takes everything in him to not ditch. He doesn’t and he thinks of it as a personal win. 

2’o clock comes and his shift starts at 2:15, and he’s dreading it. Gina was scheduled at the same time and he really wasn’t in the mood for fighting or whatever it was when they talked to one another. 

He gets there before she does, and walks to the back to clock in. Leone’s sitting at his desk, flipping through books, glasses perched on the end of his nose. He says a quiet hi, and walks to the register, relieves the morning worker from his duties. Phil, was his name. He was in college and had shaggy red hair, and a goatee that warmed his chin.

She walks in right as Phil leaves, coming from the back. It’s ten past 2:15, he doesn’t say that though, keeps to his task at hand. He’s cleaning around a soda machine, dried sticky residue left from years of spills. 

The rest of work is quiet. Spent tip toeing around each other, making sure not set the other off. It’s like they’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He doesn’t know how they got here from last Tuesday to now. 

Here they are though.

He says goodbye to the last customer and goes to lock the door as they exit it.

Gina sweeps the dining area and behind the register while Ricky does the nightly inventory. They’ve fallen into this little routine, doing their known duties, away from each other. 

It’s not as easy as it sounds, because here they are both trying to get to their lockers to leave. Gina’s is right above his and he waits for her to finish up.

It’s taking a long time though, and he thinks she’s doing it on purpose. 

Suddenly she slams her locker and turns around, says, “what’s your problem?”, like he was the one with an attitude. 

He stares at her, question in his eyes, radiating off his face. It takes all in him not to laugh.

He does though, goes, “My problem, didn’t know I had one.”

“yeah, been a real dick today.” She challenges back, leaning against the locker, like she’s making her self comfortable, like she wants it. 

“I think you’re the one who has a problem, walking around like you are too good for everyone.”

He’s found himself closer to her, her back is pinned against the metal grate and she’s looking up at him, eyes black and deep and full of depth. He wants to crawl his way in there and see what’s she’s hiding. 

She clears her throat and whispers, “What? Are you watching me?”

He leans down further, noses almost brushing goes, “Maybe.”

There’s a pause and it’s all silent, buzzing around them and seeping into his bones. The brown from her eyes is gone, and al he can see is black and he thinks might be losing it.

Before anything else can happen, there’s a loud bang, like a door being shut and Leone is rounding the corner book in between his arm and keys in hand. 

Gina quickly furthers herself from Ricky, and he almost falls over a chair he didn’t know was there, rubbing the back of his neck, can feel the flush of his cheeks.

“Time to go home, clock out.”, he gruffs out, looking at them like he’s getting impatient.

Ricky quickly does so and leaves out the back door, without even looking at Gina. 

The air outside is cold and a sweet relief from the heat and closeness of the shoppe. 

He gets in his car, heads home, and definitely doesn’t think about her for the rest of the remaining day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ricky and Gina spend the evening together, unexpectedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, next one should be coming quicker and can't wait to continue this story. Please let me know what you guys thought about this, any comment it always so fun! Hope to update next week, see you then!

It’s almost eight when he’s rolling through the door, kicking off his shoes and throwing his backpack to the floor. Friday is here and he couldn’t be happier. His dad isn’t though, but it he doesn’t let it bother him, goes upstairs and pulls out a smoke. 

He’s sitting on his windowsill, feet perched on his dresser. The windows popped open and Ricky’s blowing smoke into the cold night air. Usually this certain activity would take place outside, near his pool, but it was just too fucking cold. He also liked knowing that the nicotine was seeping into the carpet, walls, curtains, absorbing the cancer that was blackening his lungs. 

Once he gets to the end he spits it out and watches it hit the ground, the red blending into the grass. All of the sudden his bedroom door his banging open and spike is there, tongue out and her black and white spotted tail wagging. 

“Jesus Spike”, he laughs. Ricky shuts his window and goes over to his bed to lay down, letting Spike jump up and lick his face clean. She was always like this when he came home late, all worked up and excited to see him, it felt nice to be missed by someone. Even though it wasn’t a person but a dog. 

After spike’s decided she’s had enough of him, Ricky finds himself reaching for his phone. Like he had been for the past week, for what he wasn’t sure, just knew that his hand was always itching for it. His heart jumps when he realizes it isn’t there, he shoots up from his bed, ruffles the comforter and checks under the bed, near the window. 

He spends the next thirty minutes re tracing his steps, checking every spot in the house, even checks his fridge, like it could possibly be hiding there. Ricky slams it shut with a sigh. Fuck. He really didn’t want to have to go back up to work. 

Getting into his car, driving there, it was a whole thing. And okay, maybe he was acting ridiculous, but whatever, Ricky had a bad week, okay? 

He grabs his keys off the entrance table and calls for spike, if he was going to go he at least wanted someone to enjoy the ride. 

It’s 40 outside but he still rolls the window down for her and watches how her ears and tongue wag, being pulled by the fierce force of the wind.

It’s 10:30 by the time he pulls up, he parks in the handicap, it’s not like someone was gonna come and get ice cream at this time, they were closed anyway too. He leaves the passenger side window down, waves to Spike as he unlocks the door and heads inside. 

The alarm doesn’t go off and he’s surprised to find the back room dimly lit, soft music echoing into the front of the store. An eerie feeling blooms in the pit of Ricky’s stomach, its all playing out like a horror movie. The unsuspecting victim walking straight into the murderer’s trap. 

No one should be here, he thinks. Ricky was the only closer tonight and he made sure to lock every door, the only other person it could be was Leone, but he was out of town for the rest of the week. Sweat starts to bead at the back of Ricky’s neck and he quietly walks behind the counter, making sure not to alert any robber that someone is there. 

He reaches for an ice cream scooper and heads into the back, better to be safe than sorry. 

Before anything else the smell is what Ricky notices first, it hits him quick and sharp and has his head feeling light and fuzzy. Someone was fucking getting high. 

He clears the back room first, notices Gina’s locker was open, her sweatshirt hanging off the side, a pair of shoes tucked beneath the locker. Shit, they already got to someone’s stuff. 

Ricky rounds the corner to Leone’s office, notices the door is cracked open and can hear the music playing from his old stereo. If he was going to confront the bastard, Ricky wanted to catch him by surprise, give himself the upper hand. 

He raises his hand up, scoop in hand and kicks open the door, rushes in there, hoping to jump on him before he can react. 

“What the fuck”, someone yells. 

Ricky lowers his arm, drops the scoop, and sighs, letting all the fear escape from his body. 

It’s Gina. 

Of course. 

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were fucking breaking in.”, he can feel his heart, words racing out of him fast and jammed together.

And then she’s just laughing, head thrown back, shoulders shaking, kind of one, like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. 

“And you thought an ice cream scooper was gonna save your life.”, she asks, coughing in between words. It was the first time they had spoken to each other since “the incident” last week. Their shifts were different all week and they definitely hadn’t interacted at school, it’s not like he showed up anyway.   
Instead of answering he opts for a finger in the air, telling her to fuck off, in the nicest way possible and takes a seat in the corner of the room.   
“That wasn’t an answer.”

Gina’s sitting in Leone’s black desk chair, feet perched up on his desk, joint in her left hand. All casual like she was supposed to be there. Like this was normal. 

Ricky sits there and stares waits for her to answer. The sound coming from that stupid beat up stereo.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She says, a smile hanging lazily from her lips. 

Jesus she was a piece of work, always answering questions with another question. Nothing ever came easy with Gina he was learning. 

Instead of playing her game he answers, goes, “I left my phone up here, came back to get it.”

She nods, sucks on the end of her joint and releases the smoke, all slow and looks him right in the eye as she does it. 

Ricky shifts in his seat, suddenly feeling too hot in this small room , too close. 

“You know there are a million other places to smoke, other than your bosses office, at night, where you aren’t supposed to be.” He tells her, like it was something totally crazy. 

She sits up and leans over the desk, asks, “You want some, I don’t mind sharing.”

Her curls are falling into her face, and her eyes are slack, glazed with sedation. Ricky can’t help but let his gaze fall, notices the way her sweatshirt is hanging loosely off her shoulders and her tanned skin is peeking out like a warm invitation. 

Like if he just reached out she melt into his touch, the way he was melting into her eyes.

Ricky clears his throat.

“Um, no thanks, don’t feel like getting fired tonight.” He rolls his eyes and shoots her a glare, drives home his point. Makes it clear that he not okay with this and definitely doesn’t want to participate either. 

Gina rolls her eyes back and sits back down, takes another hit. “Relax, it’s not like he’s got any cameras in this shit hole, he’s never gonna find out.”

“So what? You just do this all the time? One of your hobbies.”

“No.” she tells him like he’s the idiot. “Only when Leones’ out of town. When I know I can’t get caught.”

“So like twice a month.” She trails off. 

Ricky nods, eyes her, waiting for her next move. It doesn’t come though, she just slowly sinks back into the chair, closes her eyes and sighs. 

He likes her this way, he decides. Much more mellow, not always on the defense, cold and closed off. Hell, she was actually talking to him, which was a vast improvement of their usual dynamic. 

He should probably leave, grab his phone and go, but he finds himself stuck. His ass glued to the chair, eyes glued to Gina’s face. God he probably looked like creep, Ricky thinks.

Ricky stands up, takes a step over to his desk, decides to break the silence. “Here let me take a hit.”

She opens one eye and lets a soft smile take over her lips. Gina slowly hands over the joint, and their fingers brush as she slips it into his hands. 

He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, just knows he doesn’t want leave, just knows he wouldn’t mind getting buzzed. 

Ricky slips the joint past his lips, sucks in, holds it there for a while and finally lets the smoke release. He looks over at Gina, notices she watching him, eyes trained on his lips, watching as they blew. 

“Shit, this stuff is good.” He tells her, letting out a slight cough as he takes another hit and passes the joint back. 

He falls back into his chair, letting the leather cool his skin, and lets the familiar hum swim around his head. Ricky feels good, like super good. His limbs feel feather light and he swears he’s floating. 

Before he can fall too into oblivion, he remembers why he’s here and that spike is waiting for him the car and that he should probably head home because he can’t really remember if he locked the door or not. 

“Fuck, I need to head home.” He tells Gina. Ricky stands up from his oh so comfortable position and heads towards the door. He doesn’t make it though because there’s a firm grasp on his shoulder and he’s being pulled. 

His current state causes him to fall back into it, mind not alert enough to fight back. 

“Wait.” Gina says, turning him around. “I need you to give me a ride, don’t wanna fucking bike back to my house in this shitty cold weather.” 

Ricky smiles down at her, and then his mouth is rolling with laughter, like this uncontrollable kind that feels foreign. He doesn’t even know why he’s laughing though, it wasn’t even that funny. But it’s started up and he cant stop it. Plus Gina is laughing too that’s not helping either.

When he finally catches his breath he nods at her and exits the office, her following closely behind. He makes sure to remind her to turn of the lamp and the stereo while he grabs his phone that he left near the cash register.

He’s checking his phone as he walks into the back room and notices Gina struggling to put on her shoes, falling into the lockers as she tries to balance on one leg and put on her sneaker with the other. 

“Sit down, let me help you.” He laughs, walking over to the dingy plastic chair that was placed in the corner of the room. Gina follows his command, makes sure to roll her eyes in the process, just so he knows she isn’t doing it gladly. 

“I know how to put on fucking sneakers.” She says sticking out her foot with a half put on shoe hanging off. “I’m sure you do, maybe just not right now.”, he grabs the sole of her foot and guides it into the shoe, slips the end of it around her heel and sets it on the ground. 

He ties it too, makes sure to double knot it so it won’t come undone and then fucking slip and kill herself. Suddenly warm fingertips are brushing across his face, sweeping away the hair that had fallen into his face. Ricky looks up and sees Gina staring down at him, eyes glowing with warmth. 

“Thanks.”

He clears his throat and slowly stands up, their noses brushing, breath mixing, as he sticks his hand out to help her up. He can smell the pot and hints of mint, like she had been chewing gum before she decided to blaze up.

She quickly pulls back and shoves his hand out of the way, standing up on her own. 

God, she was confusing. Ricky backs away, trying to give her space, easing the tension that was currently about to explode. They were finally starting to ease into one another and he didn’t want to risk the new sense of comfort, see it blow up in his face like it had the past few times they had spoken.

She turns her gaze away from him and goes to her locker, “I need to get my stuff.” Is all she says and then they’re heading out. 

He makes sure to set the alarm before they leave and double checks the front door is locked, because he really didn’t want to have to deal with a real break-in. 

“Oh my goddd.”

Ricky turns around to find Gina half-way through the passenger side window, petting spike ferociously and peppering kissing around her nose. 

“Did you know you have the cutest dog in your car?”, her words are dragging, falling out of her mouth like honey, slow and thick, sweet. 

Ricky thinks he’s never seen her so in love with something.

He makes his way around the car, unlocks the doors, gets in and turns on the heater. 

Gina gets in, is squished against the inside of the door, face pushed up to the cold window. 

“Uh, yeah.”, Ricky goes, “Her names Spike, and she’s huge. Let me get her in the back, you’re practically falling out of the car.” He lets a small laugh escape, and goes to grab her yellow and pink splattered collar. 

Gina’s hands immediately swat Ricky’s away and then she’s wrapping her arms around her fluffy body, “No, really, it’s fine. I don’t mind sharing, remember?”, she quirks her eyebrows and starts scratching Spike, ruffling behind her ears and is rewarded with kisses to the nose. 

Gina rolls her eyes, sticks out her tongue, like she is just that annoyed with him. There’s a smile at the end of it though, and it has him feeling free. 

The entirety of the ride is spent with Gina gushing over Spike, mixed in with complaints about his shit rock music, “really? Of course you would like this.”, she laughs. He knows it’s laced with insult and disapproval, but Ricky finds himself biting away at a smile despite the fact.

Kashmir is just ending when he pulls up to Gina’s house, there’s a red car parked in the driveway and the porch light is on, casting a soft glow around the small home. 

“Fuck.”, Gina sighs, slams her head into the seat rest. 

She turns to him, goes, “I can’t go inside. My mom wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. And the second I walk in there she’s gonna kill me, I smell like the inside of a weed dispensary.”

Ricky nods, puts the car into drive and leaves her house in the rear-view mirror. 

“Where the fuck are you taking me? Is this the part where you drive me into the middle of the woods, and murder me with an axe?”

“I don’t know.”, Ricky goes, “Don’t think it’s going to work out anymore, seem like spike would bite my head off if I went anywhere near you. Smart move making friends with the dog.”, he tells her, tones of sad defeat present in words. 

She sticks her tongue out and goes back to petting Spike, behind the ears, her favorite place to be loved, and tells what a “good girl”, she is. 

“Okay, but seriously… where are we going?”

“Home. Well, my house.”, he lets his words trail off, doesn’t look over to her, like he’s nervous or some stupid shit like that. 

Ricky didn’t want her to think that he was trying anything, or that he had ideas. He wasn’t that type of guy, all he was really looking for was a friend, and he wanted to do her a favor. That’s what friends do, right?

She doesn’t say anything so he continues, “My dad isn’t in town right now. He’s got work, won’t be home for the rest of the week actually…”, Ricky stops himself, before he can delve any further into his familial drama.

Gina nods her head says, “What about your mom, where’s she?”, Spike’s fallen asleep on her lap and she’s slowly petting around her face down to her neck, holding her hand there. 

Ricky hates the casualness of it all, like it was a question that had no weight behind it, because it was a question that shouldn’t. Of course it does though, and he feels himself gripping at the steering wheel a little tighter, heat rising from the tips of his feet to the top of his head, drowning him. 

“She’s gone.” He spits out, leaves it that. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, never was going to be. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit a sore spot.” Gina tells him, he doesn’t look at her, but he can feel the burn of her stare, hates that he was obvious about it. That she could tell that it was something that bothered him, kept him up late at night. 

Ricky shakes his head, tells her its okay and then they’re pulling into his garage, the tennis ball gently hitting his windshield. 

He clicks the garage button that hangs on his visor and steps out of the car, likes the chill that hits his face, a greatly needed relief from the car. 

“Shit it’s already 1:15.”, he states pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket, checking for any messages, like he would have any. He doesn’t and he sighs, shoving it back into his coat. 

“Time files when you’re having fun, Bowen.” 

He turns around and finds her with another joint placed between her fingers, waving it closely in his face, taunting him. 

Gina’s walking behind him following him into the kitchen, spike following lazily behind. 

“Yeah, no thanks. The last one was enough for me.”, he laughs, walks over to the island and carelessly throws his belongings, his keys falling to the ground. He doesn’t bother picking them up. Instead opts for the fridge and a sprite. 

“Make yourself at home.”, he tells her jumping onto the counter. 

Gina walks around the counter and meets his presence and jumps up next to him, knees knocking his in the process. Ricky doesn’t notice the way it sparks heat, warms him up. He swears to himself she doesn’t do it on purpose. 

“Anywhere I can smoke this?”, she asks holding up the joint, titling her head towards it. 

Their faces are inches apart and he can see the flecks of gold present in her eyes. Black like coffee, with pockets of cream bursting to make the most beautiful shade of brown he swears he’s ever seen.

He clears his throat, and jumps off the counter. “Yeah, let me lead the way.”

Gina follows behind and Ricky takes her up the stairs, turns the corner to his room and shuts the door with a soft click. 

He suddenly wishes he would have cleaned up, there’s socks, underwear, and shirts scattered all across the floor, with some paths carved out for walking to where he needed to get. 

It’s embarrassing. 

“Gosh, this is such a boys room.”, Gina laughs, kicking a pair of checkered boxers to the side. 

“Yeah. Wasn’t really expecting company, so you’ll just to have to excuse the mess.” He makes his way over to the window at the far end of his room, removes the latch and opens it up. 

Ricky hops onto his dresser, pulls a cigarette out and lights up. 

God he would never get over how good that first hit felt. Gina joins him, has put on her sweatshirt, hood pulled over her head. They’re knees are pulled to their chest, and feet are overlapping one another’s, it’s a tight fit but he doesn’t mind, thinks she doesn’t either. 

“You want one?”, he’s pulling another one out and handing it to her.

Gina eyes him and holds the stick in her hands, rakes her eyes over it, like it was something poisonous. “Yeah. Thanks, but I don’t really feel like getting cancer today.”

She leans forward, tucks the smoke behind Ricky’s ear, lets her hand fall to his chest, tells Ricky to “Save it for later.”

Ricky lets his eyes fall to hers, his head reeling, like’s the way her hand feels against his collarbone. How it feels so natural and right. 

“Says, the one smoking pot.” He says, Gina leans back and lights the end of the joint and sucks in. 

“At least I get high from this, all you get from that is bad breath and black lungs.”

“Addiction too. Which is almost has that fuzzy feeling beat.” He smiles down at her and blows smoke out the window, watches how it sticks to the cold air. Gina smiles at that, and lets the sound of cars fill the silence. 

Five minutes pass when one of them finally decides to break the silence. 

Its Gina.

“So you’re dad’s gone a lot?”, she phrases it like a question, but really he can tell she knows the answer. Tries to hide it behind her hoodie and bloodshot eyes. 

“Got a new job. He’s gone during the week and is home on weekends, had to stay this weekend though. So, yeah I guess…” he trails off, he takes on last inhale and drops the cigarette out the window. 

Gina nods her head slowly, follows suit and drops her joint out the window. “I get it.” She tells him. “It’s just my me and my mom, and she gone most nights for her job. Long hours.” 

“Fucking sucks.” 

Ricky nods in agreement, he watches her. The way she leans her head against his window, likes the feeling of her feet wedged between his, even though they’re freezing. And he realizes that he’s never felt so close to a person, and so distant too. 

Ricky doesn’t get her. Or maybe he gets her too much.

It’s like one second she’s cold and closed off and the other she’s talking to him, sweet and smart and deep and honest. She’s still staring out the window, but her eyes are fluttering closed, being lulled by sleep. 

Ricky checks his phone reads the time it’s a little after two and he decides its time for bed, can feel the tiredness seep into his bones. Can see its happening to Gina too. 

He jumps off his dresser and goes over to his bed. Ricky kicks off the clothes and shoes that were piled on top and turns down the comforter and sheets, getting it somewhat sleepable for Gina.

Ricky’s fluffing up his pillows when he feels his bed dip, falls with the change in weight. He falls into Gina, heads knocking into one another, and she lets out a groan.

“Owww, what the fuck Bowen.” She says, brings her hands up to her head and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Their heads are resting against one another, her elbow digging into the pit of his stomach. “Hey, I was just trying to be nice. Get my bed ready for you. You’re the one who wouldn’t be patient.”, he tells her, “You’re also elbowing me in the gut.” He grabs her arm and takes it off of him before she can make it hurt any worse. 

Gina pulls her sweatshirt off and pushes her feet under the sheets, reveals a grey tank top underneath and worms her way under the cozy covers. 

Ricky lays there for a while, watches as she finally catches sleep, the way her lips are parted and her curls are coming loose, falling into her face. He pushes aside the instinct to reach over and brush them away, and gently rolls of the side, heading towards his closet. 

There’s a sleeping bag tucked away in the corner and he pulls it down. It’s too small, fit for a ten year old and has been collecting dust for the past 11 years, but he doesn’t mind, actually likes having someone else to share the emptiness of his room with even if it meant sleeping on the floor. 

He lays it at the foot of his bed, and grabs the extra pillow that Gina wasn’t using.

Before he lets sleep carry him away there’s a soft voice filling the room.

It’s Gina.

She tells him, “Thank you.”


End file.
